Discussion Topic

This is my 'big' trip out West this year. Going to climb the grand - yehaa!
Any advise on what shoes to use? I am thinking it would be possible to climb it in Five Tens. I am shooting for the Exum Ridge.

Coming from low altitude (VT) it's all about saving weight on the approach for me. I'll be huffing and puffing. If you have advise on how to manage high altitude, gear, route finding etc. - I am all ears!

I assume you mean guide-tennies, or sticky rubber approach shoes. First take them out climbing on shorter, more technical climbs than the one you will be doing in the Tetons to see what their limits are, if the route is 5.8 & you have no problem climbing 5.9 in them then you will probably be fine. If you find yourself struggling in them though maybe it'll be worth the extra 1/2 pound in the bag for some rock shoes.

Yes, September can be cold...occasionally the first winter storm will dump snow early in September. But in recent years conditions have been fairly moderate.

A camp on the moraine will have less wind...although a camp on the saddle has a nicer view. Rockfall from the Stettner Couloir has been bad the last few years but it's on the wane. Camping on the eastern part of the moraine will lessen the rockfall danger.
The upper Exum will go with approach shoes, climbing shoes or mountaineering boots. So will the the lower Exum.

Prepare for the cold, of course. Many climbers attempt the Grand without adequate insulation and wind gear. I've attempted one day ascents with nothing more a sweater and been forced to retreat.

The Exum gets significantly less traffic in September which is a plus.

Moisture laden clouds blowing across the peak can leave an icy glaze on the rock in late season. But the sun burns off ice on the Exum fairly quickly. (usually)...Have fun...climb safely.

The Exum guides recommend for an ascent of the Grand, "Approach shoes...These “sticky rubber approach shoes” are worn throughout the approach, summit climb and descent."

Glenn Exum wore whatever passed for tennis shoes in 1931 when he made the first ascent of the (upper) Exum Ridge. You can also wear hiking boots to the beginning of Wall street, comfortable rock shoes (with socks) on the route, and pick up your hiking boots on the way down.

Last August, I climbed the Upper Exum with 2 other guys, sans rope. We took a rope and harnesses for the rappel.

I was glad that I brought my TC Pros, as I thought the "friction pitch" was pretty slippery.
I would make sure that your comfortable climbing in the shoes you take along.

I had a small pack, since I was going car to car, and wore running shoes, changing into the TC Pro's at the end of Wall Street.

Edit: Isa, after realizing who you are from your TR's, I suggest you do it in a long day. I did it the day after leaving Boston, and really felt fine.
It was great leaving all the weight behind and going light. (I met 2 guys at the lower saddle, half my age, who I joined up with). We took a rope, but never used it, except for the rappel.
I hiked from the climbers ranch, leaving at 5AM, and was back by around 6 PM.

Obviously, if your planning on doing the complete Exum Ridge, using gear,
the equation changes dramatically. At least it would for me.

The guiding concessioners likely recommend approach shoes on the Grand because the Owen Spalding descent has an abundance of sand and fine gravel.

Beginning climbers wearing smooth soles often slip on rock with a fine layer of sand while lug soles give them better purchase on dirty, sandy rock. More experienced climbers in smooth soles adapt their footwork to avoid slipping on dirty rock.

The friction pitch can seem intimidating especially in high winds. The puff n' grunt crack is a fair alternative...or the friction pitch bypass which isn't more than class 4 if snow-free...and there are other alternatives to the west.

But approach shoes like Guide Tennie and Ganda will work well on the F.P.

I've only climbed the Grand two other times.
Once with my son-The Owen Spaulding- car to car and The West Face via the Black Ice C. ( when there was ice,) back in 1971.

I always kind of get confused up there, since I forget details.

When I went up last summer, I told my wife that I was just going to go for a long hike. I privately hoped that I would get to the top, but was realistic, since a few years earlier, I tried to solo it, and was nearly being blown over with 70 MPH winds at the lower saddle.

Anyway, I met these 2 guys at the Lower Saddle, and they convinced me to join them in soloing the Upper Exum. They had already done it and were familiar with the route.

I just followed the younger guys, and had a blast. The technical stuff started where Wall St. ends. It was kind of fun passing other groups,
who were very friendly.

I couldn't believe how many people were on top, and the weather was perfect.
I must admit, I've got to hand it to Glen Exum soloing that route in the crappy shoes they had back then). Exum didn't have the advantage of chalk which I pulled out on the friction pitch.

As to your last question:

I made an effort to keep in hiking shape by hiking up either Mt. Washington or other similar hike, once a week, starting in the Spring.

The rappel Steve is referring to is the standard rappel on the Owen-Spaulding route, from the Catwalk to the Upper Saddle.

I did the upper Exum unroped, continuing up from climbing the lower Exum. I was climbing in Robbins shoes at the time, which might be viewed as an early (and pre-sticky rubber) precursor of the Sportiva Ganda. I think any sticky rubber approach shoe would be fine for the friction pitch.

As for altitude, I think you want to do as much aerobic training as you can, involving as much in the way of hills as possible, at home. Given that, you still need a few days at altitude in order to adjust; the more days the better. If you can get to the Tetons early enough to do at the very least one long hike with good altitude gain, I think you'll be much more comfortable on the Grand. I like the North Fork of Cascade Canyon up to Lake Solitude. The hike up to Ampitheater Lake is good, a little shorter, and would familiarize you with the first part of the hike to the Lower Saddle from Lupine Meadows. Finally, the (unmaintained but pretty easy to follow) trail up Hanging Canyon to Lake of the Crags is shorter than the others but steep and with beautiful scenery.

...perhaps it would be beneficial to reiterate that "approach shoes" are a broad classification of footwear. Guide Tennies and Gandas were fashioned with serious rock climbing in mind. Some "approach" footwear are not.

I love "Camp 4" shoes for rugged approaches but they aren't really good for precise rock climbing.

Rgold is correct about the Gandas...they're superb on rock... as are the veritable five-tennies and a few other shoes designed with edging, smearing and precise foot placement in mind.

Exum Ridge will go in approach shoes. I did it in light mountain boots many years ago with climbing slippers in my pack. And they stayed there. It's very much like moderate Tuolumne/Sierra climbing. Think "high altitude SE Cathedral peak" with 4th class approach.; including possibly crowded even in early Sept.
The boots were very handy for the snow. Which will be minimal by September.

From personal experience, I strongly recommend you don't downclimb the Owen-Spalding. Take a light 60 meter rope. You can rapp down the regular chimney if you go to the left side (facing down). There's a rap station 1/2 way down. The two rope rapp is from the right (north) side of the chimney.
Exum Ridge is a terrific route to solo. Be ready for awesome exposure in a couple of places.

Go early, go quickly, be wary of the weather. It can change VERY suddenly and violently as I'm sure you know. I summited in a T-shirt with just a few clouds in sight and by the time I got back to the Lower Saddle it was starting to thunder and lightning. Full on lightning/rain/hail storm before I got down to the Caves area. Take your weather cues from the guided parties. It gets cold up there Real Fast in bad weather. And very icy.

Listening to you all, I feel pretty good in attempting the complete Exum ridge in approach shoes. Thanks!

Keep the info regarding the Grand coming, not being familiar with the range, I appreciate all your advise about rappels, detours, alternate routes, camping, bivi, good food, ogers etc.

I'll be continuing to jog in humid thick air that you can cut with a knife in the hopes it will simulate 'lower oxygen', and climb in the company of black flies and mosquitoes chasing me up sweaty rocks (they do actualy sweat in the East in July ha ha)..
Isa

If you don't do it in a day, and you camp in the saddle, don't bring a tent. If you go past all the tent sites and over the saddle over to the Idaho-ward side of the saddle, there are several nice bivy caves. Much better than a tent.

I still think that lower Exum would be "spicy" in approach shoes! Hell, if you're climbing hard enough to do the lower Exum in approach shoes, another option would be to do the Gold Face (10a) instead. It's just as awesome (and right next to) as Exum, but a little harder.

I know your plan is to do the climb car to car. Certainly doable.
However consider acclimatization and the beauty of the mountains.
Consider a lightweight camp or bivvy at the Moraines or Caves or even Lower Saddle. Spend a fine night in the open at altitude. You'll be at the base of either route long before you could make it from the car. Note that the Exum guides leave their Lower Saddle camp for the summit about 4 AM.
That area really is a spectacular place to spend the evening and early morning.
Of course you should get a free overnight permit from the Jenny Lake Ranger station and there could be an evening or overnight thunderstorm.

MtnMoma
A clarification. I did the original Exum Ridge solo, not the complete.

A second vote for not doing the route from Lupine Meadows in a day. Bivvy on the Lower Saddle and get on the rock at first light. This distributes the slogging over two days, is safer (the thunderstorms typically show up in the afternoon) and you get various esthetic mountain experiences, sunset on the Lower Saddle with the peak shadows extending over Jackson Hole, a night under the stars, and sunrise on the route. You can chill a bit on the summit and on the Lower Saddle on the way down because you're not racing darkness. Everything about it is better, unless you want to prove your fitness (and carry a bit less gear).

We really enjoyed our climb of the Petzoldt/Upper Exum with a base at the Moraines camp; this helped with the altitude issue and made a very early start no big deal on climb day. It's true, too, that electrical storms roll in a lot of days so starting very early from a high base is a good insurance plan.

Fivetennies or equivalents are fine for most Teton routes 5.6 and easier, imho, at 5.7 you start to move into more technical and exposed terrain.
Evolv cruzers are awesome shoes but like everything else, they have pros and cons. Using the Tetons as a reference, I WOULD carry the cruzers up The Snaz for either the walk down decent or the rappels, I WOULD NOT approach/climb the Grand in them. They are surprisingly light, compact, comfortable and they climb well. However, they offer very little lateral support, they are cut low so tend to fill up with sand and such and they are not super durable. My first pair lasted through 4 days of adventure climbing in redrocks. I wore them for all of my approaches and descents and the stitching blew out. To be fair, Evolve replaced them for free and my current ones seem to be holding up better, but I immediately sealed all of the seams with shoe goo and I won’t use them for long approaches.

I am definitely into the full mountain experience with an overnight - not shooting for a car to car effort. So I learned I have three options: either camp at the Meadows, the lower saddle (windy?) or bivi around the corner of the saddle.

Irene's arete is near the Caves bivy which is on the trail up to the saddle. I had an awesome weekend hiking up to the saddle, bivy in a nice cave on the saddle. Climb the grand, and then go back down to the caves site. Went up the next day and climbed Irene's arete.

You could camp in Garnet Canyon Meadows and do the Grand from there, although I think a higher bivvy would be better for the Grand. The advantage of the Garnet Canyon meadows would be the availability of other climbs, e.g. the South Ridge of Nez Perce, the North Face of Cloudveil Dome, The Buckingham Ridge on Middle Teton, and the various crag climbs on Disappointment Peak, most notably Irene's Arete.

You could also use a Garnet Canyon Meadows camp as the base for a conditioning hike, namely South Teton, which is a third-class scramble.

As was said, Amphitheatre/Sunrise lakes are nowhere near the main Teton routes.
However, the climb of Disappointment Peak from Lupine Mdws trailhead and Amphitheatre Lake is 3d class, a great acclimatizing day trip and gives you SPECTACULAR views all around.